A YouTube user has uploaded a video which shows the first ever 3D-printed bullet being fired. In the video “Taofledermaus” fires three bullets from a Mossberg 590 shotgun at various targets to determine how effective they are.

In recent weeks Defense Distributed have show video of the worlds first 3D printed gun successfully firing a bullet and after the plans were briefly released on the internet enthusiasts have started to improve its design.

“You’ve heard of a 3D-printed gun? How about 3D-printed bullets.”, YouTube user Taofledermaus.

The 3D printed bullets fit into a traditional shotgun case and a small piece of lead is added to give the bullet enough mass to travel and pierce the target. Each pellet took an hour to print and were designed slightly differently to test their effectiveness, and include a “Tri-Factor round” that has a 3-pointed end.

The plastic slug was fired using a Mossberg 590 shotgun

The damage caused by the bullet

Gun enthusiasts are exploring the limits of 3D printing and an improved version of the “Liberator” gun was recently produced on a consumer level LulzBot printer. The Lulz Liberator fired multiple shots without failure and showed that the weapon can be produced on cheap 3D printers. The original Liberator was printed on an industrial grade Stratasys printer and it was though that cheaper printers would not be able to produce a fireable gun.